NOVPUB
Chapter 520: Chapter 510: Earn and Spend at the Same Time
By New Year’s Eve, Yunfang had planned to rest, considering how busy she’d been these past few days—she really wanted to enjoy the holiday, and they could afford to not earn that little bit of extra money for one day. But she was the only one in the family who thought this way; everyone else was eager for the earnings, especially Dashuan. He’d been selling fireworks with Yunfang these past few days, and the amount of money that passed through his hands each day was far more than the two or three hundred that Li Xianglian and the others made. His pocket was stuffed with two or three thousand every day. When it came to the choice between resting at home and going out to make money, he definitely leaned toward the latter.
"As long as the family is together, any time can be New Year’s. Besides, they were only going to go out for the morning and would be home in the afternoon in time for New Year’s dinner. They wouldn’t miss a thing."
Yunfang was overruled since she couldn’t do it all by herself, and ultimately, she had to drag her entire family to the market.
The children were thrilled at the prospect of going to the market, jumping up and down with joy.
These past few days, the children had been so well-behaved. While the adults were busy working outside every day, the kids played by themselves at home—they didn’t fight or argue or cause any trouble for the adults. They were such good kids that they definitely deserved a little reward during the New Year’s festivities.
So, on the morning of the thirtieth, their large brigade was quite the sight—fifteen people in total, children and adults alike, as they started merrily on their way to the market.
This time, all three of the family’s tricycles were put to use, with Spring Festival couplets at the bottom and fireworks on top. The fireworks weren’t packed to capacity considering that the children were small and it might be difficult for them to walk to the market, so some space was left for them.
The group set out before dawn, as the market that day would only last for half a day. They were determined to sell as much as they could.
At eight in the morning, they arrived at the bustling market, where people were hurrying to finish their shopping and get home in time for the reunion dinner.
They chose a spacious spot, set up their stall, and stuck to the old method—lighting a string of firecrackers in the open space in front to let everyone know their business had started.
"That’s enough hands for us," Ma Liguo said, waving to dismiss the people in front of the stall. "You guys take the kids and go have fun."
"Are you sure you guys can handle it?" Xianglian asked hesitantly. When it came to earning versus spending money, it was a no-brainer for her; she would obviously choose earning.
If the women and children left, the stall would only have three men remaining.
"Why not? Usually, Yunfang and I can manage just fine, and now we even have an extra hand. Nothing to worry about. Just go and enjoy yourselves. If you see something nice, don’t hesitate to buy anything. Spend away," Dashuan added the last part for his wife to hear.
"Ah, Dashuan really knows how to treat his wife," Mu Huazhen couldn’t help but joke, turning to her own husband and commenting, "We don’t have three men here, at most two and a half. Our old Ma here could barely count as half a man on a good day."
"What are you on about, woman? Picking a fight on New Year’s?" Liguo said with a twisted neck and a smug grin, teasing his wife.
"Yeah, you wish," Huazhen retorted, raising an eyebrow at her husband, who quickly fell into line.
"Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare. Empress Dowager, go ahead and take the kids to spend money with peace of mind. Although your man might only be worth half a person for now, have faith in me—I’m a fast learner and will soon be worth a full person’s contribution," Liguo declared with a comedic flare.
"That’s more like it," Huazhen laughed, then turned with a touch of elegance.
After the banter, Liguo got serious again, "Go ahead, but make sure you keep a close eye on the kids."
"I know, I know, I’m with public security, remember? You don’t need to tell me," Huazhen beckoned everyone, ready to start walking around the market.
"Then you’ll be the ones working hard. We’ll have a quick look around and be right back," Yunfang said with a smile, greeting the men behind her before taking a child by the hand and squeezing into the crowd.
"Go on, go on, don’t worry about us," Jianjun, seeing customers start to flock in, joined in sending them off.
The women, confident that the men at home could manage on their own, each took their children and went off to enjoy the market.
Shen Yunfang walked forward with Pangpang and Manman, following the stream of people.
"Mommy, there are twisted dough sticks, Manman wants to eat some," Manman said as she spotted someone frying twisted dough sticks by the roadside, tugging at her mother’s clothes and refusing to move.
"Alright, let’s go, Mommy will buy you some," said Shen Yunfang, picking up Manman and letting her son cling to her clothes. She called out to the people behind them and they all headed over to the stall. All of a sudden, more than a dozen people surrounded the vendor’s stall.
The stall didn’t just fry twisted dough sticks, but also Youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks), oil cakes, and fried rice cakes.
"Manman wants the twisted dough sticks, right? What does everyone else want? Line up and report your orders," Shen Yunfang asked her son, bending over, "Son, what do you want to eat?"
Pangpang stood on his tiptoes to get a better look and shouted, "I want Youtiao and a sugar oil cake."
"I also want a sugar oil cake, auntie, can I ask for one more?" Shuanzi said, eyeing the tempting treats, finding it hard to make up his mind.
"Sure, just say whatever you want to eat," Shen Yunfang said generously. These things were not going to cost much.
"Then I’ll take another twisted dough stick, and a fried rice cake too," said Shuanzi, his smile growing wide.
"I want Youtiao and twisted dough sticks," Huzi quickly raised his hand, afraid he would be left out.
"We’ll have good food when we get home, why buy these things?" Li Xianglian said, distressed about the money.
"If the kids want to eat, just buy it, it won’t cost much," Mu Huazhen wasn’t stingy with the money. As long as the kids liked it, she would buy it, besides, haven’t we made money this year?
In the end, the children all wanted different things, so Shen Yunfang waved her hand and asked the vendor to fry twenty of each item, thinking that they’d have enough for one of each per person on the way back, ensuring everyone got something they liked and preventing any quarrels.
Several people with their children wandered from one end of the market to the other, both children and adults carrying their hands full of items.
"Yunfang, no more buying, we’re here to make money, not to squander it," Dashuan’s wife complained, holding a big pig’s head in her hands. Earlier, Yunfang had insisted on buying one, no matter what, so there she was, carrying it.
"How is this squandering money? If we’ve earned so much, what’s the point of saving it without spending? Do you want to save it for someone else to spend?" Shen Yunfang joked. In the future, there were many examples like this, where the legitimate wife scrimped and saved all her life, only to have the results enjoyed by the mistress. That’s why people should be open-minded in life; if you have money, don’t shortchange yourself.
"Stop talking nonsense," retorted Dashuan’s wife, giving her a look but not gaining any seriousness.
The group, accompanied by the laughter of children, strolled around the entire market. Shuanzi was like a little monkey, jumping up and down in front, and whenever he saw something tasty, he’d scurry up to Shen Yunfang and whisper to his auntie. Consequently, the following kids would also get to share in the treats, eating till their mouths were greasy.
Li Xianglian was growing displeased, wanting to grab her younger son and scold him; the child had no sense of propriety. However, she couldn’t catch that slippery monkey.
"Yunfang, you shouldn’t buy them any more food. Eating like this, they won’t need dinner when we get home. They’re getting full just from this," Li Xianglian, failing to catch the child, decided to cut off the source instead.
Shen Yunfang agreed perfunctorily, but when the children came over asking, she still obediently paid for their requests, leaving Li Xianglian in frustration.
After strolling around a bit more and seeing that it was past ten o’clock and the crowd in the market had thinned, they headed back to their stall. Arriving there, they saw that most of their goods had sold, and after a brief consultation, they decided it was time to pack up and go home.
